It's Over...Who's to Blame?

The Pack came out on the wrong side of a thrilling game that will likely make up for at least 5 of Sportscenter's top 10 plays today. Now begins the long offseason full of "what ifs" and "what now's".

What if...

Rodgers doesn't throw the pick and Driver doesn't fumble on the first 2 possessions of the game...

Crosby doesn't miss the 54 yard field goal in the 1st half...

The Pack had better clock management and could have scored a TD at the end of the 2nd quarter instead of kicking a field goal...

The #2 ranked defense in the NFL could have come up with more than 2 stops during the entire game...

Rodgers didn't overthrow a wide-open Jennings on the first play from scrimmage in overtime...

Darren Colledge didn't hold on the Packer's overtime drive...

The Refs had called one of the roughing the passer penalties in overtime that were no-calls...

Needless to say, there were several things that could have gone slightly different to give the Pack the win. It just wasn't meant to be this year. Now come the big quesions as to what the Pack will do in Free Agency and the Draft to help our chances of not letting this happen next year. Will Al Harris be able to recover from his knee surgery and come back at full-strength? What is the future of Aaron Kampman? Can we re-sign our now free agents? Who do we target in the draft? O-line? CB? RB? That's what this blog is for and that's what we'll be talking about from here until draft day.

All in all, I believe this season was successful. After losing to the lowly Buccaneers the pack went 7-2 (including yesterday's playoff loss) and were very close to winning the division. This is still a very young team and has a bright future as long as we can keep it together. A few key offseason acquisitions (and an actual retirement of a certain old QB that plays for the queens) should be able to catapult this team to an easy division title and hopefully a deep playoff run in 2010. We find out in 2 days if Woodson wins DPOY.

GO PACK!

Wild Card Weekend: Packer-Card Pregame

Well we a little over 1 hour away from the start of the game and I'm very excited. The Packers are the favorite to win this game and with Boldin being listed as inactive, I think that we match up extremely well against the Cardinals.

The Packers are hot coming into the Playoffs and some people are picking them to make it to the SuperBowl. I don't know what will happen, but i'm excited that the Packers made the playoffs and I think that we should win this game.

I've just decided that i'm going to talk a little about the game and how I think it will need to go for the Pack to win.

First of all, I think that we need to start by playing great defense. We need to be able to put pressure on Warner without sacrificing our match ups in the secondary. If there is one part of the Packers' that makes me nervous it is the lack of depth we have at CB, and a lot of times it seems as though we leave Truman Williams and Bush in single coverage and without help. I think that is one of the keys to the game is for those guys to be successful and given help if they need it.

On offense, we need to stick with the gameplan. The Packers have been great running the ball lately and we need to be able to control the ball and keep it away from the Arizona offense. I feel very confident that the Packers offense will have success again this week.

When all is said and done, I think the Packers are the better team in this one and if we lose, it will be bad. I think that our defense plays strong and the packers cruise to a 28-17 victory.

Sunday Early Games...Looks Like Pack-Cards in Round 1

So, the Vikings are beating up on the Giants right now and if they hold on for the win, it will secure our future of playing the Arizona Cardinals again next week.

In other places around the league, the Bears right now are losing to the Lions, which I find spectacular. I just love the story lines that surround Jay Cutler. He is physically and mentally strong because he doesn't only have to deal with being on a shitty team, but he also has diabetes! Yes, in case you didn't know, they check his blood pressure several times during the game. They have determined that when his blood pressure crosses a certain point, he is more likely to throw interceptions.

Ok, that isn't exactly accurate, but sometimes commentators need to stop making up story lines and they need to talk about real things that are happening in the game or around the NFL. Nobody cares about Cutler's Diabetes. Nuff said.

Week 17: Packers vs. Cardinals

Well it has been a while again since I have posted, and the Packers are in the Playoffs! I remember back when the Packers lost to the Bucs thinking, "another disappointing season". They turned it on and here we are as a wildcard team and 10-5 record. I guess we all probably jumped to conclusions at that point.

Here we are, going against the Cardinals on Sunday, and in most likely cases, playing them again the first week of the Playoffs. I think that we match up pretty well with the Cardinals. Sure, they have some great wide recievers and we dont exactly have the depth at CB than we did with Harris in the lineup. Never the less, the offense is playing great and we have good balance. The defense is very good. They just need to get some more consistent play from our defensive backs going forward.

By the way....Mason Crosby kicked a 52 yard field goal last week! Yes, I said MADE! He will be fine, I'm not worried about him, he will make them when it counts I hope.

Also, off subject, but A.J. Hawk was selected as an alternate for the Pro Bowl. People are stupid. He is playing better lately, but come on, lets all quit living in the past when he still had potential.

Its hard for me to care that much about the Packer game tomorrow, I don't know what to expect for a game. Are they going to play the starters? Is it going to be a half ass competition like most NBA games? I sure hope not, but I'll tell you what, I think that the Packers should rest our key guys. We should pretend its preseason and make sure nobody gets hurt. We don't have that much to play for this week. We have to travel the first week of the playoffs no matter what.

Regardless of anything else, I think the Packers can and should win both games against the Cardinals!

Packers Sweep Da Bears Thanks to Defense!

After the dust settled, the Packers were 9-4 and in prime position for a wild-card playoff berth, while the Bears are now mathematically out of the playoff race. It wasn't pretty, but we've come a long way since the embarrassing loss to Tampa in November. Despite Ryan Grant's 137 yards rushing (with 2 TDs) and Rodgers throwing no INTs (even though he did have a screwy fumble that lead to the 2nd TD of the game for the bears), the Pack just couldnt seem to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball. The defense looked good again, with the exception of a couple of TD tosses by Cutler. 3 sacks, and 2 picks (and another 1 or 2 dropped) guaranteed a winning season for the boys from Green Bay.

Things I liked: Ryan Grant running tough. Pressure by the d-line and LBs. Improved play from Tramon Williams (with the exception of the 2nd quarter TD he gave up). The fact that the Bears gave up so much for a QB that isn't any better than Rex Grossman.

Things I didn't like: Mason Crosby missing another makeable FG (that's 6 out of the last 7 games that he's missed one). Rodgers holding the ball too long...again. Kicking FGs in the red zone.

All in all, it's a win and it was against Chicago so I'm happy. And with the flailing Steelers, the miserable Seahawks, and a Cardinals team that will likely be resting it's starters, the Pack are in good shape to make the playoffs this year! GO PACK!

The Lions are Improving...

But they still stink. Granted if Stafford and Calvin Johnson weren't both dinged up, it may have been a little closer but probably not. Even with the scare of the fumble on the opening kick off and quick score by Detroit, the Packers had the game well in hand by the beginning of the 2nd quarter. It made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast in the afternoon. But here's the good news:

Cowboys win (which makes little difference to us) and the Giants lose, which gives us another game of cushion in the playoff race. Now with the Ravens, Bears, Steelers, Seahawks, and Cardinals (respectively) ahead. I don't believe that there is any reason we wont finish with at least a 10 win season. Not even the Ravens and Steelers have had as impressive a season as anyone thought they would. Not to say they will be easy victories, but at 5-5 (Ravens) and 6-4 (Steelers) It's not impossible to think that we could end up at 12-4. The play of Cutler and the Bears has gotten worse since the opening game in Lambeau, and if the Pack don't win by at least 14, it will be a disappointment. If the Seahawks performance against the Queens is anyhting to go by, I believe that it should be the easiest game remaining on the schedule. The Cardinals will be tough, but hopefully they will have their playoff spot clinched at that point and sit Fitzgerald and Warner early. All in all, it's looking a lot brighter after losing to Tampa in week 9.

GO PACK!